Planet GRANTS It! - 3 grants totalling up to $15,000 awarded annually
At Planet Granite, we live by the philosophy of “work hard/play hard.” We love pursuing our own adventures and are inspired by the feats of others who are pushing their limits. We created these grants to give people the opportunity to do things they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford to do. It's for the person who has a grand vision of a trip that will have a big impact, but who needs some financial help to put it together. The movie "180 degrees South" was our inspiration for the grants – a great example of an epic journey that also brought awareness to conservation issues. Maybe your vision is an unclimbed piece of granite, an effort to clean up our oceans, or whatever you’ve been dreaming – think BIG! Special attention is given to projects that benefit the environment and/or community.
Who Can Apply
We specifically developed these grants with passionate individuals in mind. One might think of our grants as a means to facilitate a personal pilgrimage - one that will inspire people to pursue their passion while doing something good. That said, we realize that large scale community and environmental stewardship often takes the organizational framework and resources that can only be found in the non-profit sector. While grant priority will be given to the vision of single leaders, consideration will also be made for non-profits with community or environmental outreach proposals that reflect the adventurous spirit of our program. Our mission is to inspire those around us to go on cool journeys. Whether you’re a single individual with a big passion or an organization in need of funding for an adventure, we’re interested in your ideas.
When to Apply
Applications are accepted & reviewed quarterly until the three grant recipients have been chosen. For the remainder of 2011, cut-off dates are as follows:
- 2nd Quarter: April 1st – Jun 30th. Applications will be reviewed and a decision made by July 31st.
- 3rd Quarter: Jul 1st – Sept 30th. Applications will be reviewed and a decision made by October 31st.
- 4th Quarter: Oct 1st – Dec 31st. Applications will be reviewed and a decision made by January 31st.
Once the three grant recipients have been chosen the application process will be closed.
How To Apply
All interested parties must fill out page 1 of the application provided and attach answers to the application questions as a separate document. Grant applications must be submitted electronically via an emailed MS Word or Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) attachment. All applicants must also submit a 4-minute video identifying the objective of your journey and to give us a sense of the personal experience you have developed in preparation for your project. You can email a link to a video or attach as a file. If emailing, the absolute max file size accepted is 5mb. Please submit relevant photos of your objective along with your application.
Selection Process
Your grant application will be reviewed by a committee of climbers who are community and environmentally minded. While the panel will strive to choose at least one climbing related grant each year, proposals solely with a community or environmental emphasis will also be considered. Priority will be given to proposals that incorporate all three strands of the Planet Grants It! initiative, but projects are not required to have a direct link to each component. Overall we want to be inspired and we want our members & community to be inspired—both in terms of pushing physical limits and by giving back to our communities.
The panel takes into consideration the following for each of the three components:
Climbing:
Our panel wants to see you out there pushing your limits, following your passion, and inspiring us to follow in your footsteps. Maybe you want to make a first ascent of a hard sport climb or develop a new crag in an environmentally responsible way. Maybe you’ve got your eye on a rarely completed traverse of a peak-studded ridge in the High Sierra. Perhaps there’s an awe-inspiring boulder field in a remote corner of wilderness you want to explore. If it’s a project that will drop our community’s collective jaw, we’re interested. Our panel gives priority to projects with minimal environmental impact, teams with an experience level that shows preparedness for the proposal, and objectives that are motivated by personal passion and a clear potential to inspire. Include any available photos, web links to video and other material (maps, articles, etc.) relevant to your objective.
Community:
Where does our community of climbers begin and end? Within our circles, we know many of you are doing amazing things and have big dreams. If you’ve got a project in mind that benefits our community at large, we’d love to support you. Perhaps you know of a group of inner-city youth that could benefit from an adventure? There is limitless potential for community support, and our panel is looking to help form strong community bonds within our local circles.
Environment:
As climbers and adventurers, we need our wild places to do what we love. But every day we read about determents to the natural world in the news—we see it in the air we breathe, and we experience it in the litter we pick up at crags. We want to help individuals or groups with a project to help restore, preserve, or maintain the wildernesses we use. Perhaps you want to start a program to clean up a popular climbing area. Know of a crag that needs an erosion-free access trail? Maybe you know of a stream that needs some restoration. These projects don’t need to display a clear connection to climbing. Rather, priority for awards will be given to proposals with a well formed environmental objective. If your project is to take place on public lands, your application must show that you have the permission of local authorities to proceed. Include contact information, written approval, or copies of needed permits from relevant agencies or parties in your application.
Whatever your project, remember the basis for our program is adventure. We want to see you going somewhere exciting and giving back to those places so that they are left with stronger communities and healthier ecosystems. When we hear of your adventures, we hope to be inspired to take a similar one of our own.
Requirements
- Grant applicants must be U.S. citizens, though team members may be foreign citizens.
- Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and complete legal liability releases.
- All expeditions and projects must be legal and obtain all necessary visas and permits required by local authorities. It is the responsibility of the expedition team to obtain and disclose to Planet Granite all relevant permissions, permits, visas, etc.
- All expeditions and projects must be conducted in an environmentally conscious and sound approach and with care and respect for the local inhabitants.
- Projects undertaken by non-profit organizations must submit their Tax ID number as well as a description of relevant goals their organization has previously achieved.
- Projects must be completed in a time period appropriate to the proposal, and one that is mutually agreed upon by Planet Granite and the Project Leader. Projects that fail to submit a completion report within a period of time deemed appropriate by their application may be required to return their award funds to Planet Granite.
- Projects that are intended for commercial use must be disclosed.
- All financial support and/or any other major sponsorship must be disclosed.
Responsibilities
- If for any reason the expedition or project is canceled or significantly changed, awarded funds must be returned to Planet Granite.
- Project proposals may be submitted for grant consideration one time only. In other words, no single project may reapply for a grant.
- Acknowledgement of Planet Granite and the grant is required in any resulting media or publication (e.g. blog posts, articles, videos, slide shows, etc.).
- Where possible, participants will be asked to submit photos, video and/or written “blogs” during the project. The extent and format will be mutually agreed upon in a marketing plan that is mutually agreed upon by Project Leader and Planet Granite.
- Within one month of completion, participants must submit a written report of their project for use on Planet Granite’s blog or website. Please include relevant photos and video of your project. Planet Granite reserves editorial rights over your materials.
- Participants will be required to give a slide show or multi-media presentation at all Planet Granite locations following completion of the project or expedition.
- Grant funds are distributed based on the cash flow requirements of your endeavor. A detailed budget submission is a significant determining factor in deciding the amount of each award.
- Please include your relevant professional and personal experience (resume) with your application.
Download the application here. The application is a PDF and we suggest you have the most current version, which can be downloaded here Adobe Reader. If the application does not appear immediately, please refresh your browser.
Applications should be submitted to Renee DeAngelis.